Refrigerating apparatus



July 18, 1939. mupp 2,165,908

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 13, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m. v W

' JJ INVENTOR. qwqalvca 4. P101. IPP

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ATTORNEY.

July 1939. L. A. PHILIPP' REFRIGERATING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledJan. 13, 1933 INVENTOR. Lot/emu 9. PHIL/PP ATTORNEY.

|| 23 slow by a door II.

Patented July 18, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE narmoaasrme maasrusland Application January 13, 1933, Serial No. 651,560

6Claims.

refrigerating system wherein the pressure of theliquid refrigerant isreduced in an improved arrangemnt in its flow from the condenser to theevaporator so as to aid in insuring the admission -of liquid refrigerantonly to the inlet of the evaporator.

More specifically, it is an object of my invention to provide in arefrigerator cabinet a refrigerant evaporator located adjacent the upperwall of the food storage compartment, a refrigerant condensing elementwhich is connected to the evaporating element'by liquid and vaporconduits, which condensing element is located in a machine compartmentbelow the food storage compartment, and to control the flow of liquidrefrigerant to the evaporating element by a float valve mechanismlocated in the machine compartment; also, to provide means in the liquidsu ply conduit which keeps the pressures therein sufficiently highenough to prevent refrigeration takin place in said liquid supplyconduit to prevent loss of refrigeration.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription. reference being bad to the accompanying drawings:

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical view in cross section of a refrigerating apparatusembodying features of my invention:

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of the refrigerating systemshown in Fig. 1:

Fig. 2a is a fragmentary view showin the refrigerant suction and supplyconduits in thermal contact with each other.

Pig. 3 is an enlarged view in cross section of a valve mechanismembodying features of my invention; and

50 Figs. 4 and 5 are modified forms of refrigerating systems embodyingfeatures of my invention.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 2 designates, in general, acabinet having a food storage compartment 2i provided with an openingThe cabinet 2. is also provided with a machine compartment 21 locatedbelow the food storage compartment 2|. An

opening 28, which is closed by a movable door 29,

provides ready access to the machine compartment 21. Within the-foodstorage compartment 5 2| there is disposed a refrigerant cooling orevaporating element designated, in general, by the numeral 32. Witlrinthe machine compartment 21 there is disposed a refrigerant condensing orcirculating element designated, in general, by the numeral ll. Theseelements are operatively associated with one another by a liquid supplyconduit "and a vapor return conduit 31. These conduits extend from themachine compartment into the food storage compartment and, preferably,are disposed in the insulated wall structure forming the food storagecompartment.

The evaporating element comprises, in general. a lL-shaped structure llhaving a pair of headers 42 adjacent the upper extremities thereof. Aconduit 43, to which the vapor return conduit 31 is connected, isarranged to interconnect the headers 42 to provide for the return ofgaseous refrigerant from the evaporator 32 from the headers 4!simultaneously. The evaporator 32 is provided with a liquid refrigerantinlet 45 in the bottom wall thereof.

The refrigerant condensing element 33 comprises, in general, acompressor 5|. a motor '5 for driving the compressor. and a condenser53. The compressor withdraws gaseous refrigerant from the evaporator 32through the vapor conduit 31. compresses the gaseous refrigerant anddelivers it to the condenser 83 wherein it is liquefied a d from whichit is delivered in liouid form to the evaporator 32 through the su plyconduit 35 under the control of a high side float mechanism orrestrictor IS. The high side float mechani m II operates when apredetermined amount of Jim uid refrigerant is delivered thereto toallow the passage oi' a quantity of licuid refr erant in o the supplyconduit II. This mechanism contro s the flow of liquid refrigerant tothe supply conduit and serves as a pressure reducing valve or restrictorbetween the condensing element 33. or high pressure portion of thesystem. and th evaporating element, or low'pressure portion of thesystem, which restrictor meters the quantity of liquidrefrigerantflowing from the condensin element to the evaporating lement duringentire operation of the system. Preferably, the system is intermittentlyoperated. In order to control the operation of the condensing element, Ihave provided an automatic switch I! which is adapted Ii into the supplyconduit 35 from the high side float mechanism 55, I have provided apressure responsive valve or restrictor designated, in general, by thenumeral Ill. This valve meters the flow of liquid refrigerant andmaintains the pressures in the supply conduit 35- sufllciently highenough so as to prevent refrigeration taking place in said conduit sothat no refrigeration takes place except in the evaporating element 32.This prevents loss of refrigeration, increases the capacity of theapparatus and prevents the collection of moisturein the insulatedportions of the food storage compartment through which the liquid supplyconduit 35 extends.

As shown in Fig. 3, the pressure responsive valve includes a valveproper It and a valve seat 64 located within a casing 35. The casing 85is provided with an inlet 51, to which the outlet end of the conduit 35is associated, and an outlet 58. A coupling III is connected on one endto the outlet 65 and on its other end to the inlet 45 of the evaporatingelement 32. The valve proper 52 is secured to a weight I! which isadapted to move upwardly and downwardly within a chamber ll, dependingupon the pressure of refrigerant on the valve proper 62. Preferably, thechamber I4 is cylindrical in shape and also, preferably, the weight 12is provided with a plurality of arcuate portions 16 which conform to thecontour of the walls of the chamber. The weight 12 is also provided withcutaway flat portions I8 between the arcuate portions 15 to providespaces between the walls of the chamber and the weight so as to preventbinding of the weight in the chamber, and also to prevent a dash potaction therein. When the pressure of refrigerant in the supply conduit35 reaches a'predetermined point, the liquid refrigerant therein willmove the valve proper 82 and weight I2 upwardly to allow liquidrefrigerant to enter the chamber 14, whence it passes through the outlet68 into the evaporator 32. When the pressure recedes to a predeterminedpoint, the weight and valve proper move downwardly to cause the valve 62to engage itself with seat 64 to prevent further passage of liquidrefrigerant into the evaporator. This weighted valve is arranged to beintermittently operated so as to maintain the pressures within thesupply conduit 35 at a point above that which would permit refrigerationtaking place in the supply conduit 35. The pressures in conduit 35 are,however, below the pressures in the high pressure part of the system orcondensing element, butabove that which permits the collection of froston said conduit. If desired, the portion of conduit 35 in machinecompartment 21 may be insulated to avold'any possibility of thecollection of moisture thereon, due to the high temperature in saidcompartment. Also, if desired, the conduits I5 and 31 may be securedtogether throughout their passage through the insulated walls ofcompartment 2i so that the conduit 35 will be in engagement with therelatively colder conduit 31' to prevent collection of moisture abouteither of said conduits. Y

Fig. 4 shows a refrigerating system which is similar to the system shownin Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 and includes a refrigerant evaporating element 52,which corresponds to the evaporating-element 32, and a refrigerantcondensing element 83,

which corresponds to the refrigerating condensing element 53. Liquidrefrigerant is supplied from the condensing element 83 to theevaporating element 82 under the control of a high side float 85 orrestrictor, which corresponds to the high side float 55. In thisrefrigerating system, I have provided a valve mechanismor restrictor 80for controlling the pressures within a supply conduit 9 l Valvemechanism 90 includes a casing 82, a spherical shaped member or ball 94,which constitutes the valve proper, and a valve seat 85 which cooperateswith the valve proper 84 to control the passage of refrigerant from thecasing 92 to the evaporator 82. In this embodiment of my invention, Ihave provided a spring 81 for returning the valve 94 to its seat 85 whenthe pressure of refrigerant in the supply conduit 8| falls to apredetermined low value.

Fig. 5 shows a system in which Ill designates a refrigerant evaporatingelement, which corresponds to the evaporating elements 32 and 82; I02designates a condensing element, which corresponds to the refrigerantcondensing elements 33 and 85. Liquid refrigerant issupplied from thecondensing element I02 to the evaporating element I00 through a supplyconduit I under the control of a high side float mechanism or restrietorI05, which corresponds to the high side float mechanism 55 and 85. Inthis modified form of the invention, I have provided a capillary tube orrestrictor H0 which is connected to one end of the supply conduit Illand to the inlet end of the evaporator I" to provide for the continuousflow of liquid refrigerant from the supply conduit llll to theevaporator llli. However, the capillary tube H0 is of such a small crosssectional area that the pressures in the conduit I are maintainedsufllciently high enough to prevent refrigeration from taking placewithin the* supply conduit I.

Each of the refrigerating systems which I have disclosed in Figs. 1, 2,4 and 5 are suitable for installation in a refrigerator cabinet with thehigh side float mechanism located outside of the food storagecompartment and, as shown in Fig. 1, the high side float mechanism 55 islocated in the machine compartment 21. The systems shown in Figs. 4 and5 may be located in a refrigerator cabinet 20 in the same manner as thesystem shown in Fig. 1 is disposed therein. I

From the foregoing description, it will readily be apparent that I haveprovided a refrigerating system of the compression type in which theflow of liquid refrigerant is controlled by a pressure reducing valvelocated at a point remote from the evaporating element and at the sametime no refrigeration takes place except within the evaporating element,owing to the pressure responsive valve mechanisms or capillary tubes,which control the pressures within the liquid supply conduits. Thisarrangement is particularly advantageous in installations where it isdesirable to locate the float mechanism or pressure reducing valvesoutside of the food storage compartment, since no refrigeration takesplace except in the evaporating element. It will also 'be noted from theforegoing that the provision of the valves or 50 or the capillary tubeH0 provides a refrigerating system with a high pressure portion, a lowpressure portion and a portion wherein the pressures are intermediate ofthe high pressure portions and the low pressure portions. Thus, the highside float or restrictor restricts the flow of liquid refrigerant at alltimes during .op-

eration of the system and so do the valves II and 90 and capillary tubeIll.

In addition to the above, it will be noted that with my invention liquidrefrigerant may be conducted to various evaporators located a longdistance away from the float mechanism without loss of refrigeration. Itwill also be apparent that any number of refrigerant evaporators may beconnected to one float valve mechanism and the said evaporators may belocated at any desired place simply by connecting the various liquidsupply conduits to a common feed pipe associated with the float valvemechanism.

Although only a preferred form of the invention has been illustrated,and that form described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilledin the art that various modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of theappended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a mechanical refrigerating apparatus, the combination of arefrigerant liquefylng means including a refrigerant condenser, arefrigerant evaporator having an inlet and an outlet, means forinterchanging heat between the refrigerant entering the evaporator andthat leaving the evaporator, a first restrictor between the condenserand the interchanging means, a second restrictor between theinterchanging means and the evaporator, and a liquid and gaseousrefrigerant reservoir at the top of the evaporator adiacent the outlet.

2. A refrigerating system comprising, a refrigerant condensing element,a refrigerant evaporating element, a conduit for conducting refrigerantfrom the condensing element to the evapo rating element, control meansfor controlling the flow of refrigerant through said conduit, a pressurecontrolling device in said conduit and means for cooling the refrigerantin said conduit as the refrigerant passes from said control means tosaid pressure controlling device.

3. In a refrigerating system, the combination of a refrigerantevaporator, a remotely disposed refrigerant compressor condenser unitfor drawing refrigerant vapor from said evaporator, condensing the same,and supplying liquefied refrigerant thereto, means for operativelyinterconnecting said evaporator and said unit to condense entrainedvapor and to prevent vaporization of liquid refrigerant passing from theunit to the evaporator comprising a suction line for drawing refrigerantvapor from said evaporator and a refrigerant line in intimate thermalcoupled relation therewith for passing liquefied refrigerant from theunit to the evaporator, refrigerant flow controlling means connectedbetween the unit and the refrigerant line and additional refrigerantflow controlling means connected between the refrigerant line and theevaporator whereby predetermined conditions of pressure and temperatureare maintained in the refrigerant line.

4. In a refrigerating system, the combination of a refrigerantevaporator, a remotely disposed refrigerant compressor condenser unitfor drawing refrigerant vapor from said evaporator, condensing the same,and supplying liequefled refrigerant thereto, means for operativelyinterconnecting said evaporator and said unit to condense entrainedvapor and to prevent vaporization of liquid refrigerant passing from theunit to the evaporator comprising a. suction line for drawingrefrigerant vapor from said evaporator and a refrigerant line inintimate thermal coupled relation therewith for passing liquefiedrefrigerant from the unit to the evaporator, a high side float typeexpansion valve connected between the unit and the refrigerant line, anda. capillary flow restricting tube connected between the refrigerantline and the evaporator, whereby predetermined conditions of pressureand temperature are maintained in the refrigerant line.

5. In a refrigerating system, the combination of a refrigerantevaporator, a refrigerant compressor condenser unit for drawingrefrigerant vapor from said evaporator, condensing the same, andsupplying liquefied refrigerant thereto, heat exchanging means foroperatively interconnecting said evaporator and said unit comprisingvapor conduit means for passing refrigerant vapor from the evaporator tosaid unit, and thermally coupled refrigerant conduit means for passingliquefied refrigerant from said unit to said evaporator whereby the coldrefrigerant vapor is utilized to precool the liquid refrigerant, flowcontrolling means in said refrigerant conduit means for maintaining anintermediate pressure therein, said heat exchanging means and said flowcontrolling means being so selected or adjusted that suitable pressureand temperature conditions are provided to prevent vaporization of therefrigerant in said refrigerant conduit means.

6. In a mechanical refrigerating system, the combination of arefrigerant compressor, a refrigerant condenser exposed .to environmentair where its condensing function is influenced by changes inenvironment temperature, an evaporator, liquid supply means connected inthe system between the condenser and the evaporator for progressivelyreducing the pressure of the refrigerant passing to the evaporator whilemaintaining the pressure of the refrigerant above the pressure in theevaporator throughout normal operation of the system to aid in passingliquid refrigerant only to the evaporator, and vapor condult meanspositioned in intimate thermal coupled relation with a portion of saidliquid supply means for interchanging heat between the liquidrefrigerant entering the evaporator and the vaporized refrigerantleaving the evaporator.

Lawmmcs A. PHILIPP.

